Isolde Rosenelli
The Snow Queen (CR 18) Half-Frost Giant Wizard (Enchantress) 15 / Archmage 2 Lawful Evil Medium Giant (Augmented Humanoid, Cold) Init +2 Senses Low-light vision*, arcane sight, fiendish darkvision 60 ft., telepathy and true seeing (with crown), Listen +1, Spot +1 Aura *Strongly evil, baatezu (with crown) Languages *Common, Giant, Auran, Draconic, Infernal, telepathy (with crown) AC 20, Touch 12, Flat-footed 18 hp 74 (17 HD) Immune Cold* Resist *Fire/20 (with ring), baatezu attack Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +14 Weakness Fire* (without ring), giant blood*, tanar'ri attack Speed 30 ft. ground (6 squares), 40 ft. on carpet of flying (8 squares) * Melee +1 icy burst staff of frost +9/+3 (1d6+1 +1d6 cold/x2 +1d10 cold) or Melee, secondary +1 keen spell storing dagger +9/+3 (1d4+1/17-20 x2); hold person spell currently stored Base Atk +8/+2; Grp +8 * Attack Options Mastery of Elements (may substitute any energy type for any other as a free action while casting a spell), Mastery of Shaping (may alter area & effect spells to create spaces within the spell area not subject to the spell) Special Actions Use staff of frost * Combat Gear Carpet of flying (5x5), rod of metamagic: Empower Spell, staff of frost (50 charges), wand of dispel magic (10th), assorted healing potions Spells Prepared CL 17 9th lvl: Dominate Monster (S), Summon Monster IX 8th lvl: Incendiary Cloud, Mass Charm Monster (S) 7th lvl: Insanity (S), Mass Hold Person, Prismatic Spray, Summon Monster VII 6th lvl: Globe of Invulnerability, Mass Suggestion (S), Otiluke's Freezing Sphere, Repulsion 5th lvl: Cone of Cold x2, Dominate Person (S), Feeblemind, Mind Fog, Teleport 4th lvl: Confusion, Crushing Despair (S), Enervation, Evard's Black Tentacles, Ice Storm, Stoneskin 3rd lvl: Fireball x2, Hold Person (S), Magic Circle vs. Good, Sleet Storm, Vampiric Touch 2nd lvl: Blindness/Deafness, Flaming Sphere x2, Protection From Arrows, Tasha's Hideous Laughter (S), Web 1st lvl: Charm Person x2 (one S), Ray of Enfeeblement x2, True Strike x2, Unseen Servant Cantrips (0 lvl): Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Mage Hand, Open/Close S = specialist bonus spell Deity Vecna (PHB standard); Auril (FR); The Shadow (Eberron) Spell-Like Abilities True seeing, summon baatezu as an erinyes (both with crown), arcane sight (permanency spell) Familiar Crystal, ice mephit DM's Note: Scroll down to reply #1 for Crystal's stats. Abilities Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12 (14 before lvl 13), Int 21 (17 w/out crown), Wis 12, Cha 15 (9 w/out cloak) Special Qualities Timeless body, immunity to cold, vulnerability to fire, low-light vision, resistance (permanency spell), specialist wizard: enchantment, prohibited schools: illusion and transmutation Feats Scribe Scroll, Summon Familiar, Combat Casting, Skill Focus: Spellcraft, Spell Focus: Enchantment (B), Improved Familiar, Spell Focus: Conjuration, Craft Wondrous Item (B), Craft Magic Arms & Armor, Spell Penetration, Craft Staff (B) Skills Bluff +10, Concentration +21, Knowledge: arcana +22, Knowledge: the planes +17, Spellcraft +23 Possessions Amulet of proof against detection & location, bracers of armor +8, boots of the winterlands, cloak of charisma +6, Crown of the Snow Queen (see below), animated hairpins (see below), gloves of holding (2; right with dagger, left with secret chest focus), major ring of fire resistance, ring of mind shielding, bag of holding II, blessed books (3, 2 full), secret chest, *Mirror of Understanding (as mirror of mental prowess; see below), clone body (preserved under gentle repose) Spellbook All non-prohibited spells of 5th lvl and below. 6th lvl- Acid Fog, Analyze Dweomer, Chain Lightning, Contingency, Geas/Quest, Globe of Invulnerability, Greater Dispel Magic, Guards & Wards, Mass Suggestion, Otiluke's Freezing Sphere, Repulsion, Summon Monster VI, Symbol of Persusasion, True Seeing 7th lvl- Banishment, Finger of Death, Greater Scrying, Greater Teleport, Insanity, Limited Wish, Mass Hold Person, Plane Shift, Prismatic Spray, Summon Monster VII 8th lvl- Binding, Clone, Incendiary Cloud, Mass Charm Monster, Protection From Spells, Summon Monster VIII, Symbol of Insanity 9th lvl- Astral Projection, Dominate Monster, Gate, Power Word Kill, Summon Monster IX DM's Note: Scroll down to reply #2 for picture. Half-Frost Giant +1 ECL +4 Str, +4 Con, -2 Int, -4 Cha; Medium size (if other parent is Small or Medium), low-light vision, immunity to cold, vulnerability to fire, giant blood (counts as a giant for abilities, effects, and spells that focus on giants) Half-frost giants are rare, but not unheard of, due to frost giants' savagery and the fact that they are not nearly as big as many other giants; the average frost giant is 15 feet tall (Large). *Most half-frost giants (including the Snow Queen) are the offspring of humans and frost giants. *They tend to resemble exceptionally tall humans, around 7-8 feet tall, with very pale skin and blue or yellow-tinged hair. *A half-frost giant definitely stands out in a crowd, making them oddities in almost any community. Attack Routine The Snow Queen is, above all, subtle. *She prefers to avoid fighting would-be heroes, instead using her magical cloak's Charisma boost, ring of mind shielding, Mirror of Understanding, and (if necessary) charm spells or elixir of love-spiked drinks to convince them that she is merely misunderstood due to her unfortunate parentage. *Nothing pleases the Snow Queen more than getting would-be enemies to work for her. *All of her devilish and other evil servants either have the ability to disguise themselves or are instructed to keep out of sight when the Queen is hosting good-aligned guests. *Even paladins have been fooled into working for the Snow Queen, convinced that they were questing for a benevolent and kind archmage. If the Snow Queen's web of lies fails to trap its targets, she can be a deadly combatant... although she tries to avoid killing enemies during combat. *She much prefers to dominate them, geas them, sacrifice them to her evil deity, or- if she's very angry- put them under various forms of binding and keep them as trophies. *Why kill an opponent cleanly when you can make him live out the rest of his life in mental and emotional suffering? *The Snow Queen particularly enjoys capturing elven opponents in this manner, given their incredibly long natural lifespans and sense of dignity. When forced to confront her enemies directly, the Snow Queen's usual pattern is thus: 1st/Surprise- Cast mind fog, using Mastery of Shaping to avoid hitting any minions. 2nd- Cast mass charm monster on the fogged enemies. *Attempt to coax anyone who succumbs over to her side, or at least to stay out of the fight. 3rd- Summon monster IX for a barbed devil. *Direct devil to attack a spellcaster (if outside; the Queen will be on her flying carpet then) or the enemy closest to the Queen (if inside and unable to fly). 4th- Cast mass hold person. 5th and subsequent- Let loose with the direct damage and targeted enchantments, using abjurations as necessary. *The Queen always modifies fire spells into a different form of damage with Mastery of Elements, usually cold or electricity. *If she has minions, summoned creatures or her familiar in melee (which she almost always does) she will use Mastery of Shaping to avoid hitting them with area effect spells. *The familiar almost always delivers touch spells. *Physical combat is the Snow Queen's last resort, usually as a delaying action while she tries to escape or cast a spell. *Her minions are instructed not to coup de grace a fallen or incapacitated enemy, but to render him unconscious so the Queen can experiment on him or sacrifice him to her deity later. Backstory Nobody knows the true origins of the Snow Queen... not even the Queen herself. *Abandoned as a baby at a temple in a small mountain village, she grew up enduring taunts about her appearance and her poverty. *The child vowed that when she grew up, nobody would ever laugh at her again. *She would be beautiful, powerful, respected! *The best way to achieve this goal, in her eyes, was magic. *Once she came of age, she travelled to a larger city in the lowlands, where she encountered an enchanter who was intrigued by this determined half-giant girl. *He took her on as an apprentice, and the Snow Queen's magical studies began. No matter how much the girl learned, she was unsatisfied. *She wanted more. *She wanted people to respect her, obey her... love her, although she didn't realize it. *Eventually she was caught using charm spells on city guards, and fled back to her native mountains. *Once there, she established a stronghold atop a glacier (much smaller and less elegant than the Ice Castle of today), and set about enchanting the farmers and herders of nearby mountain valleys into paying her tribute in the form of food and other staples. *She did, and still does, protect those within her territory from wild animals, bandits and such, so not much enchantment was actually needed to make the common folk accept her. *It was these farmers and herders who started calling their magical patroness the Snow Queen. Every so often, the Snow Queen gets lonely and spirits away a child or two from one of her villages. *She charms them, giving them lavish meals, clothing and toys, until they get too old or too clever to be amusing. *If she can still dominate or charm the kidnapped children into obeying her, they become her minions; many of the Snow Queen's most devoted servants are produced in this way. *If a child turns out to be strong-willed or otherwise troublesome, the Queen either sacrifices him or uses him in one of her gruesome arcane experiments. *Travelers and farmers who speak out against the Snow Queen often end up as sacrifices or experiments as well. Personality On the surface, the Snow Queen is polite, gracious, intelligent and cultured. *Beneath the surface, though, lurks a sadist verging on paranoia. *The Queen trusts no one except for her familiar Crystal, and enjoys tormenting captured enemies like a cat with a hapless mouse. *She prefers inflicting emotional pain, considering physical torture to be crude and unnecessary. *The handful of prisoners who have escaped the Snow Queen's clutches were all either completely insane, catatonic, mentally unstable, or in the process of emotional breakdown. *Her assaults on the minds of her prisoners eventually wear down even the strongest-willed. The Snow Queen keeps these pastimes extremely private, however. *She is also insatiably curious, devouring new books like a child with candy. *The Queen can spend hours gazing into her Mirror of Understanding, scrying for interesting things. *She is very fond of astral travel, having a specially protected chamber from which to do so; the Queen has visited just about every non-good aligned plane. *Her favorite extraplanar destination is the eighth hell of Cania, an eternally frozen waste ruled by the archdevil Mephistopheles. *The archdevil and the archmage often exchange information, magical items (the Queen can't make some useful items due to her prohibited schools) and prisoners. The Snow Queen is an accomplished mage-crafter, something of an oddity among archmages (most of whom consider crafting magical items to be beneath them). *Although she doesn't actually make the staff, blade, amulet or whatever herself- she has master crafters on her staff for that- the Queen enjoys imbuing her magic into items that will be both useful and beautiful. *She considers her crafting to be her legacy. *The Queen is capable of making items of great power, which earns her a considerable amount of gold from those hardy and daring enough to seek her out. *One of her specialties is double-enchanted staffs- magical staffs with weapon enhancements on them, such as the Queen's own +1 icy burst staff of frost. *The enhancement on such a staff must harmonize with the magic within, and she flatly refuses to craft any flaming item. Her subjects mostly accept the Snow Queen's rule, since her tax of food or goods isn't terribly burdensome and abductions are relatively rare. *All of the Queen's villages have an ice mephit assigned to them; it stays in a designated location during the winter, and flies in to check for messages once per day after the snow melts in the valleys. *If the villagers have trouble with wild beasts, bandits, or some other danger, they can send a message asking for the Snow Queen's help via their ice mephit. *Most of the time, the Queen teleports in promptly and deals with the problem; none of her subjects have the temerity to summon her for a trivial reason, so all summons are treated as important. *This level of protection is much better than most common folk get, so they put up with the occasional abduction. *Those who grumble too loudly, after all, might be next. Timeless Body: The Snow Queen bargained away part of her vitality (-2 points of Con) to her evil deity in return for eternal youth. *This ability functions as the monk ability of the same name. *She will not take any aging penalties, and continue to accrue aging bonuses, as long as she remains faithful to her deity. *However, she will die when her time is up. *Should she become nonevil or worship a different deity, the Snow Queen's age will catch up to her all at once- and she won't get her lost vitality back. Crown of the Snow Queen: This minor artifact was forged by the Snow Queen and the archdevil Mephistopheles working together, in a month of diabolical bargains and rituals that bound a rebellious erinyes into the crown and ultimately cost the Snow Queen a portion of her strength. *(-2 points of Str) *In return for her sacrifice, the Queen received a lovely platinum, diamond and pearl crown that grants the wearer great powers. *The Crown boosts its wearer's intellect (as +4 headband of intellect) and gives her some of the bound erinyes' powers; 60 ft. fiendish darkvision (can see in magical darkness), true seeing, and the ability to summon baatezu as the erinyes would. *(2d10 lemures or 1d4 bearded devils with a 50% chance of success, once per day.) *The Crown snaps into two parts; a light inner headband of woven platinum holds the intelligence property, making it possible to sleep and gain spells with the headband on. *However, the Crown gives off the aura of a devil due to the fact that one is bound inside it. *Any demon within sight or scent of the wearer will immediately recognize the aura of its eternal foe and attack. *This same quality gives the Crown a strong alignment of lawful evil. *Anyone who wears the crown and is not lawful evil must make a daily Will save (DC 20 + number of days any part of the Crown has been worn) to avoid becoming lawful evil. *If the Crown is broken, the erinyes will be released and attempt to either flee or bargain with her liberators. Animated Hairpins: Commissioned by the Snow Queen after a run-in with an arcane trickster who nearly stole her Crown, these magical silver hairpins are designed to hold a circlet, crown or headband securely onto a humanoid's head. *The set of five hairpins are inert until some force other than the wearer or a spell cast by the wearer threatens to remove whatever item the pins are holding to their owner's hair. *(A familiar counts as an extension of the hairpins' wearer.) *At that time, the pins animate and clamp down with magical force. *Attempting to remove an item fastened with animated hairpins is treated as trying to break a grapple with DC 25. *The hairpins will deactivate once the item they are holding is secure. *Animated hairpins cannot attack or defend; they are made for one purpose only. The Ice Castle: The Snow Queen dwells within an enormous, impossibly beautiful castle made almost entirely of ice. *On a sunny, clear day, the Ice Castle glitters like the finest crystal; all of the ice used in its construction is perfectly clear and flawless. *Naturally, the temperature inside is uncomfortably cold for most humanoids, but it suits the Queen and the majority of her servants just fine. *The kitchens and bathhouse are made of fine quartz, and set some ways apart from the main castle (connected by a long quartz hallway) so that the heat of the ovens and baths doesn't affect the main castle. *The Queen also has a few guest chambers in the kitchen wing; the temperature is much more comfortable for humanoids, and guests here are conveniently isolated from the activities of the main castle. Woe to the adventurers who confront the Snow Queen inside her Ice Castle- the Queen's frozen residence is a marvel of sculpted ice, riddled with twisting corridors, traps, secret doors and passages, and of course all the Queen's minions. *Most of the minions are of naturally evil races that can dwell comfortably in the cold, notably ice devils and frost giants, but there are a fair assortment of others equipped with boots of the winterlands. *Note that not everyone who serves the Snow Queen is evil- some are dominated adventurers and naturally good creatures. Mirror of Understanding: In the middle of the empty, endless hall of snow, was a frozen lake; it was cracked in a thousand pieces, but each piece was so like the other, that it seemed the work of a cunning artificer. In the middle of this lake sat the Snow Queen when she was at home; and then she said she was sitting in the Mirror of Understanding, and that this was the only one and the best thing in the world. -The Snow Queen, Hans Christian Andersen The Mirror of Understanding is actually a huge, flawless sheet of black ice that forms the floor of the Snow Queen's throne room. *It functions exactly as a mirror of mental prowess, save for the obvious fact that it cannot be moved. *If the Mirror of Understanding is damaged but not irreparably broken, it will repair itself within 24 hours. *Minor scratches and scuffs heal over almost instantly. Leomund's Secret Chest: The Queen keeps her Leomund's secret chest stocked full of the essentials she would need if she were somehow driven out of her stronghold; she firmly believes in being prepared. *Her chest contains a full set of duplicate spellbooks with every spell she knows, a variety of healing potions, a Murlynd's spoon, a decanter of endless water, a crystal ball with true seeing, spell components, several sets of clothing, and 10,000 gp worth of gems and jewelry. *The focus chest is always kept in the Queen's left glove of holding when she isn't using it to retrieve the full-sized chest. *Every so often, she retrieves her chest to make sure it hasn't got lost on the Ethereal Plane. Clone Body: In a secret chamber deep within the Snow Queen's ice palace, she keeps a clone body preserved under a gentle repose spell, renewed every few days by the Queen or one of her loyal fiendish servants. *Only a very few servant-mages know where the Queen's clone is kept, and all of them are devils bound by labyrinthine contracts. *The Queen is an old hand at dealing with devils, and she leaves no loopholes for her baatezu servants to slip through. *If a group of adventurers kills the Queen without finding and destroying her clone body, they get to fight her all over again. Contingency Teleport: The Snow Queen has a contingency spell set to teleport her into one of many secret chambers within her castle of ice if she becomes grievously wounded (at or below 15 hp). *Her 'contingency room' is fully stocked at all times with healing potions, assorted scrolls, a complete set of duplicate spellbooks, food, water and a bed. *Even if a group is fighting the Queen within her castle, finding and getting to her contingency room will be a challenge. * Adventure Hooks -A child has gone missing from a local village, and divinations reveal nothing about him; not even whether he's dead or alive. *The frantic parents are sure that their son is a victim of the Snow Queen, but none of the locals will help them for fear of the Queen's wrath. *They beg a passing party of adventurers to find their son and bring him back if possible. -Rumors are circulating in the local arcane community that an archmage somewhere in the mountains will pay top coin for a certain rare spell component, found only in the jungles of the far south. *Efforts to locate this archmage and see if the job is genuine turn up the name of the Snow Queen, and conflicting stories as to her nature. *When encountered, the Queen is exquisitely courteous and a most gracious hostess, who will indeed pay lavishly in coin or magical items for the spell component... but for some reason, nobody can get a reading on her alignment... -Aware that her time is running out, the Snow Queen is pursuing the path of lichdom. *She needs only one rare tome and one ritual out of it to complete the process she has begun. *The PCs have recently acquired this tome, and the Snow Queen's minions have approached them with offers to buy it. *To sell or not to sell? *If they sell the book without realizing the danger, the high priest of a good-aligned temple will approach them. *His deity has sent him an urgent warning that a dire threat is about to emerge in the mountains where the Snow Queen makes her home- but there's still time to avert the danger. *If they refuse to sell, the Queen's minions, and eventually the Queen herself, will try to take the book by force. Phasm 2005-12-15, 02:25 AM Crystal, the Snow Queen's familiar Ice Mephit familiar Neutral Evil Small Outsider (Air, Cold, Extraplanar) Init +7 Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Listen +6, Spot +6 Aura Evil Languages Common, Auran (racial), Infernal, empathic link with master AC 26, touch 14, flatfooted 23 hp 37 (3 HD, 17 HD for effects related to HD) Immune Cold SR 20 DR 5/magic Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +12 Weakness Vulnerability to fire Speed 30 ft. (6 squares), fly 50 ft. (perfect; 10 squares) Melee Claw +9 (1d3 plus 1d4 cold) Full attack 2 claws +9 (1d3 plus 1d4 cold) Base Atk +8/+2; Grp +7 Attack Options Breath weapon (10-ft. cone of ice shards, damage 1d4 cold, Reflex DC 12 half), deliver touch spells Deity Same as Snow Queen Spell-Like Abilities Summon mephit (ice only, 25% chance of success), magic missile 1/hour (CL 3rd), chill metal 1/day (CL 6th) Abilities Str 10, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 15 Special Qualities Fast healing 2 (only if ambient temp is 32 F or below, or Crystal is touching a piece of ice at least Tiny size), improved evasion, share spells, deliver touch spells Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative Skills Bluff +8, Escape Artist +9, Hide +13, Diplomacy +4, Disguise +2 (+4 acting), Move Silently +9, Use Rope +3 (+5 w/ bindings) Crystal and the Snow Queen have been together for many years now, since before the Queen built her Ice Castle and took control of the surrounding mountain valleys. Crystal deeply admires and loves her mistress- she will do just about anything for the Snow Queen. The mephit is the only being that the Queen really cares about, and the only being that she trusts completely. Crystal knows almost all the Queen's secrets, including her true name, but will never voluntarily betray her mistress. Her strong bond with her familiar is both an asset and a weakness for the Snow Queen. Anyone who manages to kill Crystal had better kill the Queen soon after, or they'll have a furious, sadistic archmage on their heels. In combat, Crystal's job is first to scout out any potential enemies before they reach the Queen. It's very difficult to see an ice mephit in an ice- and snow-covered landscape. Once they engage the Queen, Crystal uses her chill metal ability on the most heavily armored assailant's armor, then starts harassing anyone who looks like a spellcaster. She happily delivers touch spells if the Queen needs her to do so. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * My Snow Queen differs in many respects from the one in Andersen's story. This was necessary in order to stay within contest guidelines, and to make a character that would fit in the DnD system. I think I managed to keep much of the flavor of the original fairytale, though, and that was my goal. The Snow Queen had to be female, near-human, beautiful, immune to cold, have immensely powerful magic, and in particular the power to affect memories and emotions. She required a castle made of ice or snow; I fudged a bit there, since the tale I read specified snow as the building material, but I recently saw a documentary about the Ice Hotel in Sweden and just had to 'make' an Ice Castle. (Google 'ice hotel' for pictures. It's spectacular!) The Queen had to have the power to fly by some means, and a powerful magic mirror. Here's a link to the fairytale. (http://www.online-literature.com/hans_christian_andersen/972/) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Extra options for extra books! There were a few elements from non-SRD expansion books that I wanted to incorporate into the Snow Queen, but refrained from doing so due to contest guidelines. *However, I'll list them here for interested parties who have as many DnD books as I do! -Monster Manual II: Eliminate carpet of flying and give the Queen a dominated or geased asperi mount instead. *Windsteeds are the cool! *This also provides another layer of deception for good-aligned PCs, since asperii are innately good and will not voluntarily bear a non-good rider. *(The key word there, of course, is 'voluntarily'.) *Note that a mount will increase the Queen's CL. -Complete Adventurer: Eliminate amulet of proof against detection and location and replace it with a greater choker of eloquence. *The best thing for liars and diplomats since elixir of love! *You might put a permanent nondetection on the Ice Castle to replace the amulet's effect. Category:Frost giants Category:Wizards Category:Archmages